[Question] Is this scene dying?

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[Question] Is this scene dying?

Post by in2sky » May 11th, '18, 19:29

The title says it all. Let's talk!

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Re: [Question] Is this scene dying?

Post by NycFalcon » May 21st, '18, 05:35

I hope not. If it did then I'd have to learn Japanese and I'm kinda baka.

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Re: [Question] Is this scene dying?

Post by kowaihitotachi » May 22nd, '18, 14:05

Certainly not as active as it used to be. I watch Jdrama because the Japanese cultural rot is a decade or two behind the US. But lately many of the dramas have gone to darker subjects and getting more edgy. Heiwa Fansubs has been inactive since Hiyokko, Candylemon seems to have been inactive for sometime now, the last Kimutaku drama was a sideproject for the subber! Though I still make subs, I do way less than I used to. Getting raws is harder, always having to navigate through adfly hoping to not infect my computer, so I wait for stuff to show up on Avistaz or Nyaa, or Zhuifan seems to be safer. How many hours have spent repairing my computer from hitting the wrong button, when I'd rather be subbing.

And additionally the loss of Rikaichan with Firefox, I have horribly outdated versions of firefox so I can continue to use rikaichan, makes me nervous. How many hours did I spend getting old versions of firefox. It could all blow up anytime.

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Re: [Question] Is this scene dying?

Post by Keiko1981 » May 22nd, '18, 17:48

kowaihitotachi wrote:Certainly not as active as it used to be. I watch Jdrama because the Japanese cultural rot is a decade or two behind the US. But lately many of the dramas have gone to darker subjects and getting more edgy. Heiwa Fansubs has been inactive since Hiyokko, Candylemon seems to have been inactive for sometime now, the last Kimutaku drama was a sideproject for the subber! Though I still make subs, I do way less than I used to. Getting raws is harder, always having to navigate through adfly hoping to not infect my computer, so I wait for stuff to show up on Avistaz or Nyaa, or Zhuifan seems to be safer. How many hours have spent repairing my computer from hitting the wrong button, when I'd rather be subbing.

And additionally the loss of Rikaichan with Firefox, I have horribly outdated versions of firefox so I can continue to use rikaichan, makes me nervous. How many hours did I spend getting old versions of firefox. It could all blow up anytime.
Yes, less active subbers now, but there is still a need for them. (Especally Jdrama fansubbers). But we also have those who are quite new to fansubbing.

Another factor could maybe be the dramas. With that I mean for example, if you think of how long it took before people started subbing dramas the 2017 Winter season, compared to the 2018 Winter season. I noticed that people were much faster at picking up dramas this year.

The time when schools are about to end. Exams.

As you said, it was easier before the torrent section closed. Everything was located in one place. Now you have to go to many more sites to find what you're looking for. This goes for some fansubbers too who go for the closed communities, and I end up following dozens of communities.

In short, many more sites to keep track of.

Something like this....
1. Mailbox
2. D-Addicts: What new is there today. :)
3. Nyaa -> DarkAngel -> J-Raws -> 540p-ZASK -> ZhuixinFan (last resort if there's no RAWs available).
4. Other closed communities.
5. Also checking Rare & Old Doramas -> Plotboxes -> Light of Angles from time to time.

And before November 19th 2014 懐かしい~

Let's pray to the Drama Gods again :pray: お願いします~ :notworthy:

1. Mailbox
2. D-Addicts.
3. WITHS2 -> Haru2Subs -> Fighting! Fansubs -> GiriGiri Fanbsubs
4. Back to D-Addicts

Rikaichamp is an alternative to Rikaichan.

And you can try to use http://jdownloader.org/ when using DDLs.
Less need of clicking links and worry about ads and otther nasty things.

1. Right-click "Copy link location" of DDL.
2. Paste into Jdownloader.
3. Pick what you want.

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Re: [Question] Is this scene dying?

Post by in2sky » Jun 1st, '18, 21:41

To me, it seems the problem started when D-Addicts stopped sharing files.
Because the site was such a hub for drama fanatics, it brought together the whole community, be it subbers, fans etc.
Once the site stopped sharing torrents etc, groups went on their own starting their own sites, and little by little, the scene diluted, with less and less groups taking subs (it's not uncommon to see new drama with famous actors/actresses but no group will sub their drama).
Time flies though, still happy the site is up :)

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Re: [Question] Is this scene dying?

Post by SusieQ » Jun 2nd, '18, 09:14

Kdrama seems to be going strong, much like Kpop.

But Jdrama, despite having more complex, well-written shows, has never really taken off globally outside of Asia. It sucks. And with Japan's crackdown on piracy the pipeline of jdramas has narrowed considerably. It sucks. And I would 100% watch legally if I could. I mean, sure, Japan has made some strides with a few, good Netflix releases and the rare Amazon and Hulu originals, but it looks like like networks in Japan still refuse to open up to an international audience. Or Japan's entertainment industry still thinks it exists in a vacuum. Probably all of the above.

If my Japanese was better, I'd even start looking into watching shows streaming from Japan. It just doesn't seem worth it to try and skirt their region locks with a VPN.

I remember the days when almost every jdrama was released on D-Addicts, including specials, and a good chunk of them were subbed in English. People were excited for jdramas! The volume was going going down even before D-A lost its torrent section. Now with increased paranoia on the part of subbers about having their subs ripped off by streaming sites (which I used to abhor but it's better than nothing), the confinement of so much content to member-restricted communities, and just the general sense of "ownership" jdrama fans seem to have over their favourite shows...

How do we even go about reviving interest in jdrama when the country of origin AND a good chunk of its fans are making it so goddamn hard to share what we love?

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Re: [Question] Is this scene dying?

Post by DragonSpikeXIII » Jun 2nd, '18, 11:44

We still need to revive Series of the Week, a regular event like that would help get fans more engaged. It sure helped me discover many then-current or older doramas. Having that poll, and guaranteed seeding on top of discovering new series proposed by other members was really cool, and useful. I miss it.

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Re: [Question] Is this scene dying?

Post by bertiwooster » Jun 2nd, '18, 16:57

I think SusieQ has it right. It’s sad that something that used to represent an international community of fans has become so fragmented and insular. I hope someday we can recapture the sense of community that existed earlier, and I really appreciate all those that helped introduce me to doramas. The one thing that confuses me is why South Korea seems to recognize how much good will its popular culture generates for its country and therefore encourages foreign distribution, while Japan seems to ignore this source of soft power, and revenue. :unsure:

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Re: [Question] Is this scene dying?

Post by Keiko1981 » Jun 2nd, '18, 19:05

bertiwooster wrote:The one thing that confuses me is why South Korea seems to recognize how much good will its popular culture generates for its country and therefore encourages foreign distribution, while Japan seems to ignore this source of soft power, and revenue. :unsure:
Exactly. How much more the country actually would benefit from it.

People watch dramas -> Might end up buying merchandise -> Thinks "I want to go to Japan" / "Study Japanese" -> Goes to Japan as a tourist -> Maybe even become a JET / ALT or work within another field.

No wonder people find "alternative methods" to obtain its popular culture, when Japan doesn't seem to be willing to promote it to an international audience more.

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Re: [Question] Is this scene dying?

Post by sukida » Jul 25th, '18, 01:09

interested in the comment about the japanese cultural rot being behind the west.

can you elaborate? maybe i partly watch jdramas for the same reason. but i don't know.

is it like there's a sense of doing the right thing?

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Re: [Question] Is this scene dying?

Post by kowaihitotachi » Jul 26th, '18, 23:53

sukida wrote:interested in the comment about the japanese cultural rot being behind the west.can you elaborate? maybe i partly watch jdramas for the same reason. but i don't know.is it like there's a sense of doing the right thing?
If I were to elaborate on the cultural rot of the west, it's likely that my comments would be banned. I'd be labeled a racist, bigot, homophobe, and a deplorable. Often see weddings in jdramas, never a wedding on American TV unless they are gay. Said too much already.

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Re: [Question] Is this scene dying?

Post by airboy » Aug 2nd, '18, 21:05

The number of jdramas that I want to see, but I can't find any subtitles for, have for sure increased the last 2-3 years, at least that is my feeling. I really hope it does not get even harder in the future to get subtitles for them. :-(

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Re: [Question] Is this scene dying?

Post by sukida » Aug 2nd, '18, 21:43

i sure am grateful to all the people who make fansubbed jdrama possible.

unlike anime, i usually can't navigate the jdrama synopses, viable raws, matched subs, and so on from many sources. also, i can't deal with registering various places and trying to get adfly or megawhatever to actually produce anything useful [usually wild goose chase that depends on your software and is a problem with stimulation overload and cognitive overload and tries to insert malware or whatever]; i can't download software to do it for me either on this machine. [even nyaa mixes jdramas with super sentai; any chance they could make a new section?] anime is too often for kids and overstimulating.

so i pine for the days of the magical torrent section and the high number of fun discussions about the latest complete drama. :] i remember wanting jdramas [having previously watched coach -- great drama, great theme song]. i was amazed that this site existed and had them. some good jdramas are still being produced!

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Re: [Question] Is this scene dying?

Post by nuve » Aug 3rd, '18, 16:25

airboy wrote:The number of jdramas that I want to see, but I can't find any subtitles for, have for sure increased the last 2-3 years, at least that is my feeling. I really hope it does not get even harder in the future to get subtitles for them. :-(
I have another feeling, I would like to watch many things but is sometimes hard to get at least raws. well maybebecause those are older things...

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Re: [Question] Is this scene dying?

Post by blitzlilz » Aug 3rd, '18, 18:45

I agree, it's hard to find raws and subtitles together.

I don't need subtitles to watch a show, but I imagine it's quite frustrating for those that do. I also agree it's super frustrating to have to download software just to download episodes. (At least I refuse to do it). This is why I continue to hardsub, even if that trend is dying. I also upload to dailymotion because honestly, streaming is where I find my Japanese drama. Right now I'm focusing on the latest shows, but when I find more time, I want to do "oldies but goodies" because there were some classic drama that deserves to be enjoyed worldwide.

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Re: [Question] Is this scene dying?

Post by sukida » Sep 30th, '18, 00:01

thank you for subbing and for including the subs with the torrent, or hardsubbing

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Re: [Question] Is this scene dying?

Post by khaytee » Sep 30th, '18, 01:35

I have always found Jdramas quirky and I have wondered if it really reflects the actual Japanese people. But since its so different from my culture, its an enjoyable watch, so I will take what I can with no complaints :-)

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Re: [Question] Is this scene dying?

Post by sukida » Nov 27th, '18, 02:55

i suspect dramas are less unrealistic on average than anime?

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Re: [Question] Is this scene dying?

Post by Keiko1981 » Nov 27th, '18, 04:28

About Kdramas, how many English (not non-English) active Fansub Groups or individual fansubbers do you see around nowadays? Not many.

After DramaFever went kaput I thought, "Well, maybe some will return." I haven't seen any. Only people waiting *taptaptap* for any other streaming site to fill the void.

Have people gotten lazy?

Or isn't fansubbing something you do because it's fun?

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Re: [Question] Is this scene dying?

Post by JackBauer2424 » Jan 7th, '19, 22:43

I feel like I haven't watched anything starring any of the big stars in ages. Matsu Takako, Nanako Matsushima, Hiroshi Abe, Kimura Takura, etc.

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Re: [Question] Is this scene dying?

Post by WhiteHawk » Jan 16th, '19, 04:58

It's ironic that I came back to this site (and others) looking for J-dramas, as I haven't watched any new ones in almost 5 five years, and this is the first topic I see.

Occasionally I'll find something on the "rare and old doramas" site, but the last current one I watched was Zoku. Saigo Kara Nibanme no Koi (続・最後から二番目の恋) from 2014. I still travel to Japan 1-2 times a year, but rarely get to watch TV while I'm there. And if I do, I don't know what I want to see, so I end up watching the news.

Anyway, I don't think interest in Japanese dramas is dying so much as the ability to get and enjoy them has been disrupted. Which, as bertiwooster pointed out, is completely baffling.

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Re: [Question] Is this scene dying?

Post by kuma601 » Jan 20th, '19, 05:22

SusieQ echo's my thoughts. I had J-drama spanning 4-6 years back that do not have subs, finally cleared the hard drive of them. That was painful because she previewed some and they looked good! Heiwa Fansubs we enjoyed their releases. Some of the Chinese dramas I had been waiting for completion like "I Do" from TimelesSub. Kodoku no Gurume is about the only one we follow. Without subs, that reduces the interest to seek new ones.

We've transitioned over to the K-dramas that last 3-4 years. Except for a few shows the K-drams seem to have the availability of subtitles.

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Re: [Question] Is this scene dying?

Post by JackBauer2424 » Apr 3rd, '19, 06:40

Seems like the actor/actress pages listing what dramas or movies they are in isn't being updated so no idea if my favorites have anything new out and no idea what titles I should pay attention to.

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Re: [Question] Is this scene dying?

Post by prestoli » Apr 21st, '19, 17:35

I was happy to see this thread because this is something I've been thinking about a lot lately. My answer would be "God I hope not!" I've been following j-dramas since about 2009 and besides the stories themselves, they've really given me a great peek into daily life in Japan. This past February I was fortunate to be able to travel to Tokyo, Kyoto and Kuyosan and it was a real thrill to see not only the famous monuments but sites I've seen in my dramas :-)

I'm always grateful for the tremendous amount of work fansubbers put in to their work; I don't speak Japanese so I wouldn't be able to watch dramas without the subs. I wonder if there's a way to incentive subbers to finish series they've dropped or to sub in general, like a subscription payment? Maybe that's a dumb idea, I'm just desperate to find a way to keep enjoying these great shows!

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Re: [Question] Is this scene dying?

Post by JackBauer2424 » Apr 24th, '19, 20:42

Do US Netflix, Amazon Prime, iTunes have many subtitled Japanese dramas? I think iTunes had Blade the Immortal, and when I search Nanako Matsushima, Matsu Takako, their names and faces show up, but not much of anything else. Doctor X shows up in Amazon search, but says unavailable.

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Re: [Question] Is this scene dying?

Post by SusieQ » Jul 16th, '19, 18:14

JackBauer2424 wrote: Apr 24th, '19, 20:42 Do US Netflix, Amazon Prime, iTunes have many subtitled Japanese dramas? I think iTunes had Blade the Immortal, and when I search Nanako Matsushima, Matsu Takako, their names and faces show up, but not much of anything else. Doctor X shows up in Amazon search, but says unavailable.
Sorry for the late reply.

US Netflix (Canada too) has quite a few subbed jdramas, most if not all are Netflix Originals. Atelier, Switched, Midnight Diner: Tokyo Stories (season 4 of Shinya Shokudou), Samurai Gourmet... it goes on. They list them mixed with the abundance of anime though, so it's hard to tell how many for sure.

There's more on Amazon Prime US than Hulu. Just doing a quick search, Prime seems to have Tokyo Vampire Hotel (Sion Sono's Prime original series), Seirei no Moribito, Yae no Sakura, Sunshine Sento-Sake (Based on the work by Qusumi, the creator of Kodoku no Gourmet), Tokyo Girl, Yamikin Ushijima-kun... I could go on and on. All of those have English subs, free with a Prime subscription. There's a ton of subbed movies too. I have no idea what's on Hulu besides QUEEN~Scandal Senmon Bengoshi~, which has subs.

In any case, jdramas are easiest to find on Amazon Prime Video. With the saturation of kdrama, Japanese shows are harder to spot in general.

So, if you're American, or have a great VPN, Amazon Prime is a great deal. Netflix next. I don't think I'll ever find a reason to subscribe to Hulu.

Coming back around to this thread, I'm surprised at the number of new (and old) jdramas popping up on Netflix. It's kinda neat.

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